Opposition denies split after entry of PP and Republicans in Lula’s government

The announcement by the Minister of Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, about the entry of the PP and the Republicans in the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) casts doubt on the parliamentary unity of the opposition in Congress. Politicians heard by People’s Gazette downplayed adherence and claim that the opposition remains firm.

The boarding of the parties in the government adds to a movement by the Centrão to gain positions in the Lula government in exchange for political support in the Legislative. The names of deputies Silvio Costa Filho (Republicans-PE) and André Fufuca (PP-MA) were confirmed by the Planalto Palace.

Despite this, Padilha did not announce the folders that the deputies will occupy. One possibility is that Costa Filho will stay with the Ministry of Sport, commanded by Ana Moser. Fufuca, on the other hand, can head the Ministry of Social Development, currently commanded by Senator Wellington Dias (PT).

It is important to point out that the government has until August 31 to approve the New Fiscal Framework, a measure that will replace the Expenditure Ceiling approved in the government of former President Michel Temer (MDB). The mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), has taken advantage of this time limit to pressure the government to speed up the Centrão nominations.

In the assessment of the leader of the opposition in the Chamber of Deputies, Carlos Jordy (PL-RJ), only the PL and the Novo represent the true opposition to PTism.

“We have always known that openly opposition parties are only the PL and the Novo. The other parties, despite having a more right-wing bias and demonstrating to be more conservative, in fact have always been more central parties”.

He claims that the opposition will remain active. “This is not something that will affect us. Because even though they are now signaling that there is a possibility of it being, in fact, government, the deputies who are in opposition to these parties will continue to be in opposition and will not change their position simply because of a statement”.

The vote on the Tax Reform exposed the internal friction between deputies more connected to former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and those more connected to the centrão. In the case of the PL, 20 parliamentarians delivered votes to the Lula government for the project to be approved.

Behind the scenes, PP and Republicans argue that they will vote with the government on economic issues. On the other hand, ideological agendas, in theory, will have resistance in the bases of the parties.

For Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), the adherence of parliamentarians to the government shows that many took advantage of Bolsonaro’s popularity to be elected in last year’s elections.

“We know who the opposition parliamentarians are. I think nothing changes. We know that many who are there were elected because they relied on my father in the last elections and now they have shown who they really are”, said the senator.

Federal deputy Bia Kicis (PL-DF) criticized the opposition parliamentarians who are voting with the government and makes a warning about the path the country is taking.

“No one can claim innocence. Everyone knows what this government did last summer, what it is doing now against Brazilians and where Brazil will go with a tyrant government. Do not know? Look at the examples on the side: Cuba, Argentina, Nicaragua, Venezuela. Do Republican and PP voters agree with this?”, said the parliamentarian.

“There is no embarrassment,” said Republican congressman

Questioned whether there would be any embarrassment in nominating Costa Filho, since the PP, PL and Republicans formed an alliance in the last elections, federal deputy Augusto Coutinho (Republicanos-PE) denied any impediment to the party’s entry into government.

“There is no embarrassment in the nomination of Silvio Costa Filho. In the party there is a percentage that is Bolsonarist and there is another percentage that is more pragmatic. It is clear that my position is to have a programmatic posture in relation to the government. The country needs to move forward.”